


Boldly Going

by Aaskada



Series: a string of barely coherent vignettes [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types
Genre: Bly just wanted to get the search of Sith space over with, Force Nonsense, Gen, He just nopes out of dealing with Hondo, I forgot to update the tags yesterday
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:14:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28034472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaskada/pseuds/Aaskada
Summary: Out of Chaos: Upon setting out from Kamino the vode quickly find that the galaxy in theory is a much different place than the galaxy in practice, especially outside the bounds of the Republic and Confederacy.
Series: a string of barely coherent vignettes [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1987279
Comments: 13
Kudos: 163





	1. But You Have Heard of Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hawkbat Battalion meets Hondo Ohnaka

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter count is currently 6 because that's how many of these I already have vague outlines for, we'll see how that goes

The Liberty is headed toward the Styx Caldera as part of their search. None of the Vode consider it likely that the Jedi would have moved anywhere near the Sith homeworld, but they'll pass through anyway for the sake of being thorough. Only—there are facts about the outer rim known mostly to spacers and smugglers and Bly and his vode don't qualify as either. One of those facts is that Florrum is a pirate's den. Specifically it's where Hondo Ohnaka holds court.

A hyperspace jump from Lianna to Florrum takes about a day. It's a boring trip, more or less, with only the usual chaos of three thousand men in a space designed for only a little more than half that number. Then they come out at Florrum and, instead of programming the jump to Korriban, everyone stops and stares at the fleet of piecemeal ships they've managed not to hit. The ships scatter like the fish on Kamino when a bigger fish gets close. When no one opens fire the ships creep closer again. That might be their first mistake. The second is answering the hail from the surface.

"Hello, friends, welcome to my home!" exclaims a Weequay in a bright red jacket. "What brings you here today?"

At the navigation station Stars signals frantically that they're being surrounded.

"Just passing through," Bly answers, giving no indication that he's noticed anything wrong. Or that he's never seen a Weequay outside of pictures.

Every vod on the Liberty is at least mostly through their training—that's the reason they are the ones chosen to investigate Sith space. Hawkbat, Nexu, and Lothwolf battalions all would have been deployed at the start of the war that isn't as being only a few months out from the completion of their training at most. All of them are old enough to risk themselves and by the stories they heard from the trainers that's exactly what they will be doing once they hit Korriban. Of the three dozen planets in the Styx Caldera Bly hopes they won't be landing on any of them. But first they have to make it away from Florrum.

"You won't stop and enjoy our hospitality?"

"We have a schedule to keep."

"I insist! Come, take a break and relax."

Bly counts his breaths internally and slowly uncurls his fists behind his back.

"We have a schedule to keep," he says again. "We will shoot our way out if you don't let us pass."

The Weequay pouts, but shortly after the ships surrounding them pull back enough to let them through.

"Another time. Do come back! No one can beat the legendary hospitality of Hondo Ohnaka."

As soon as they get free of the crowd Stars jumps them into hyperspace and the comm drops. Every vod on the bridge lets out a sigh of relief. The streaking of passing systems in hyperspace is a relief even if Korriban will be on their viewscreen when they come out.

"Ohnaka... isn't he a pirate?"


	2. Three Wolffe Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm mostly working on my secret santa fic right now, but there will be other updates too!

The temple is a tiny thing carved into a cliff on one of the moons of Iego. It isn't Sith, because it isn't trying to kill them, but Wolffe isn't so sure it's Jedi either. The paintings on the wall are made of shapes and figures of beings and animals so simplified it's hard to describe them beyond humanoid. They might be Kel Dor, who are mostly human-shaped if you're only painting an outline. There isn't dorin gas, but this particular moon does have a low oxygen atmosphere. It clearly hasn't been inhabited by anything but animals in the last century either.

There's no reason they have to search the temple—it quickly became obvious they wouldn't find Jedi there—but CT-8513 is curious enough Wolffe thinks he might be choosing a name so into the temple they go. Boost is already starting to look bored with nothing to shoot at, but even Stutter is showing interest so they push on.

Once they get through the long, narrow hallway the temple lets out into a single room with an altar at the opposite side. It's made of a different kind of rock than the rest of the place, but otherwise innocuous. It makes him twitchy. Sunset is the first to touch the altar and when nothing happens the rest of them feel better about leaning against it as well. As soon as all ten members of their squad are touching it there is a blinding flash of not-light and then Wolffe loses time.

He knows he doesn't black out, but at the same time he has no memory between touching the altar and coming back to awareness aching on the cold ground. He tries to groan and roll to his feet, but all he manages is a low growl and the realization that all four of his limbs are now legs. Laying where Comet and Sinker were are two lothwolves starting to wake and around the altar he can see two different types of large cat-like beings, a small rodent, a couple birds, and at least one thing he can't begin to identify. Every one of them is wearing armor, identifiable by their maroon markings and Wolffe is not even a little bit interested in knowing what happened to the parts of their armor that they aren't wearing anymore.

Once they're all awake Wolffe herds them back out of the temple. It's clumsy—although they each figure out their new shape quickly they haven't had so little control over their own bodies since they were seven and gained a foot in height in a standard year, leaving stretch marks that panicked them all until the Kaminii dismissed them as an unfortunate cosmetic side effect.

Fortunately they don't seem to have been out long because no one is looking for them yet. Probably a good thing because once they get into proper lighting he can see Sunset is a Rishii and Stutter's turned into a Wookie. He doesn't know what CT-47/32-4361 turned into, but it also looks like a people race instead of an animal one. Lux is a giant flightless bird, CT-8513 is a small creature that looks part bird and part akk pup, and Heck looks like an angry blanket. Boost is a mouse and Wolffe himself, like Sinker and Comet, has turned into a Lothwolf. The CCs are going to be insufferable when they hear.

CT-47/32-4361 is the only one of them capable of talking intelligibly—even if his voice is a rumble and his new fangs are giving him a lisp—calls the Triumphant for a pick up. They won't be able to pilot the ship they brought down after all. Even the three of them who still have opposable thumbs emphatically refuse to try.

When the shuttle arrives it hovers awkwardly overhead for a moment before landing by the shuttle they flew to the surface in the first place. Tick steps out of the shuttle and glanced helplessly between them for a bit before CT-47/32-4361 points to Wolffe.

"Sir?"

Wolffe barks.

"I'll be piloting your ship, sir."

He barks again and gets up to start herding everyone onto the shuttle. Boost squeaks in offense when Sunset scoops him up, but it gets them all on the shuttle.

Boost is the first to turn back only a few hours later, the Lux a day later. By the end of the week Stutter is still shaped like a Wookie, but the rest of them are human again. It takes two uncomfortable tendays for Stutter to change back and fit in his bunk again. He's just as healthy a Wookie as he is when human so far as the medics can determine, but they're all happy to have him back to normal. None of them more than his bunkmates. There are no answers for what caused the shapeshifting, though, or for them to go back to normal. Wolffe resolves not to think about it unless it happens again. The teasing from the other commanders is already bad enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes this will absolutely be relevant again


End file.
